The Battle-hardened White Warrior

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In a land far, far away, there live mighty warriors. Warriors of tarmac, possessing steeds of hundreds and even thousands of horses, determined to slay rubber and conquer the cursed opponents of time. For months at a time their land lies under a curtain of darkness and snow, but they bide their time until the warring months by building vast legions of brave chariots. For they know that only the strongest and the bravest will survive the coming battle…

Alright, so it’s all a bit dramatic, but likening Gatebil to a battle is no exaggeration (just look at Paddy’s post). And with battles you need warriors. Which serves as the perfect introduction to Kai Bakken’s fire-breathing, no-prisoners-taken Audi. If you’ve seen any coverage of Gatebil at all, you will no doubt have seen the car before. Let’s face it, it’s not as if you could miss it.

This car is the antithesis to the trailer queen. It’s a raw and ready racer, brutal and in-your-face; a serious weapon of mass destruction designed and built from the ground up to do just one thing – wage war on the track.

My first up-close-and-personal introduction to the car was during the Swedish leg of Gatebil at Mantorp Park. Arriving on the Thursday evening, Paddy and myself went for a wander round the paddock to see what crazy machinery had already turned up. After a photoshoot with the Black Smoke Racing W203 Wagon, we rounded the corner and saw the KRB trailer.

Paddy wandered over and said hello to the KRB guys, but I remained rooted to the spot. Looming before me was the inimitable shape of one of the most bonkers builds I think I’ve ever seen in the flesh. I’d seen pictures of the car before but in person, my brain went into overload; my eyes flicked between the animal-scooping front end, the insanely wide box arches and that rear wing, not knowing which one to try and take in first. I was transfixed.

It’s hard to believe that this car started off life as a lowly FWD Audi Coupé Type 85. But even mighty warriors have to start off as children. Since Kai started KRB Tuning back in 1994, he’s earned a reputation as one of the best Audi tuners in Norway. With his background in racing and after building a race-spec Ur-quattro, he was faced with piecing together his ultimate build based on the experience he’d garnered.

The aim was simple: a full-on race build with all emphasis on going quick. And so, like a sacrificial animal, the Coupé was butchered and pulled apart before being rebuilt again from the ground up with a full tube chassis. As well as lightening the car, Kai was out to improve upon the Audi’s customary nose-heavy weight distribution.

In doing so, the engine was moved a massive 80cm rearwards of its original position. That’s more than half of my height! The entire engine now sits behind the front wheels, and the work done on the Audi means that it’s ticked Kai’s box, with the car now sporting a perfect 50/50 weight distribution.

With the aim being to build a circuit racer with a touch of Pikes Peak influence, the bodywork originally came a fibreglass S1 Pikes Peak replica bodykit, but Kai wasn’t content with it as is. The bodywork you see now has all been moved around and adjusted and besides the roof and spoiler side plates, is all fashioned from carbon fibre. The end result is akin to a thrash metal singer going up to a small child and screaming their lyrics into their face. It’s pure intimidation.

Just look at how wide it is – that’s two full metres of aggression right there. Although you don’t look quite as tough climbing in and out of it…

Of course, there’s that wing too. It originally had six wings (yes, six!) but has since been reduced to two, down one from last season (as in the picture above). Why you’re wondering? Well it might be something to do with the time that Kai was racing at Mantorp Park. After being full throttle all down the back straight, he went to brake for the corner and found that he barely had any brakes. But it wasn’t brake failure. No, he just had so much downforce on the rear of the car that the front wheels were lifting off the ground. At 160mph+. That’s definitely new underwear time.

You can see just how far back the engine sits here – completely behind the front wheels. Of course, with a car that looks this aggressive, you need some serious power to back up that appearance. It’s safe to say nothing’s been left untouched in the five-cylinder, 20V, turbocharged 2.5-litre lump. Forged internals come courtesy of CP pistons and KRB rods, and are mated to a race-prepped cylinder head with custom cams and valvetrain, and KRB’s own intake and exhaust manifolds, as well as a host of supporting mods.

Of course, there’s no missing the Comp CT43-7279 turbo. It’s an interesting choice too – the ceramic ball bearing turbo is oil-less, using a high temperature grease instead for lubrication. This set-up allows for faster spool-up due to less friction, removes any issues with cold start-ups or hot shut-downs and also gives the added advantage of being able to be mounted anywhere and in any direction. Trick!

With everything being controlled by an Autronic SM4 ECU, and the engine safely cared for by a KRB/Petersen dry sump system, the end result is a mind-blowing 1061whp, with a staggering 1004Nm of torque. Given that this is a car running AWD, which means big losses through the transmission too, that figure is almost difficult to comprehend. On track, Kai runs between 700-850whp to keep things manageable.

Of course, that much power means heat, and a lot of it. So those boxy rear arches aren’t just for show, with the vents leading to…

… the twin rear-mounted radiators…

… while the exhaust gases are dumped straight out of the side-mounted exhaust.

Inside the car it’s all business. There’s no frills or luxuries here, just the bare basics of what’s needed to get the most out of the car. That stuffed bird mascot you see in the background? Definitely essential equipment.

Sparco seats and harnesses keep both Kai and a passenger firmly planted as they ride into the fray.

Doing the job of transmitting all that power to all four wheels is a custom Sellholm MPG sequential gearbox with an integrated centre diff. Both front and rear diffs are also uprated Sellholm units, as are the driveshafts. It’s all needed to take that power and actually put it down on the ground.

If, like me, you’re wondering what the other tunnel is, it’s actually to house the prop. The car features a full flat bottom and as the prop would interfere with that, it’s been housed in its own custom tunnel to keep the flow of air as clean as possible underneath. See? No stone unturned.

Making sure that Kai’s kept up to date with everything that’s going on out on track is a Racepak IQ3 dash display.

With all that power, you need plenty of grip and lots of stopping power. The 18×10-inch Zito ZL789s are shod with grippy Michelin slicks and the job of hauling the Audi down from speed falls to XYZ calipers and discs – 8-pots up front and 6-pots at the back, plus EBC OrangeStuff pads.

This is a build that’s bound to split opinion. The Audi’s savage looks may not be to everyone’s tastes but you can’t deny that it’s got the performance to back them up. And that’s exactly what I love about this car. It makes no apologies for what it is. In fact, it doesn’t need to.

Does it mean the end for the Audi then? The Esprit is already posting faster lap times at some circuits, but as Kai admits, even the pure-bred Lotus race car can’t yet compete with the Audi in terms of sheer traction out of the corners and outright power.

Agile, brutal in its application of power and showing the scars of its battles, the Audi is a true track-hardened warrior. This is a car that doesn’t aim to look good – the form follows function. It doesn’t aim to please others – it exists only to slay its track-based opponents. It’s seen battle numerous times and come out victorious. And as a Sun Tzu quote says, “Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.” This is one warrior that’s definitely winning.

I'd like to see how that front axle is set up with the engine pushed so far back. The original Quattro gearbox had the axles right in line with the hubs. I just wonder how they connect the front diff to the hubs.

These are OLD cars. The Audi is a weird looking car! The Lotus is not that bad, but these cars must have Been good at that time. NOW they are slow......
Audi are nice model cars but this one is from another deminsion!!! This Audi is a total waste of money and was a STOCK BUILD!!!!

Having owned a number of Lotus and Audi cars I have to say WTF is with these builds.... Rat track builds.. I'm so tired of this Gatebil junk in the trunk builds... If you want to call it a Lotus then build a Lotus same goes for the Audi...Records held only on one track in Norway.

@KaiBakken That makes sense! I was trying to figure out how they moved the engine almost 3 feet with the stock gearbox/AWD setup. I was thinking they would have to flip the engine end to end to the get front axle ahead of the engine!

Nice video, but it seemed more like a shake down than anything else. Lots of short shifting and early braking into the corners. Found this where he does a quick lap around Gatebil Mantorp.

From the video data it looks like he's accelerating from 100km/h to 200km/h in about 4 seconds which is pretty quick. I compared it to a video of the Nemo EVO here and it looks like their acceleration figures are within a decent range of one another. Cornering speed of the two doesn't seem night and day either. Would definitely like to see these cars pitted against each other.

@aussieANON I believe they're more than an equivalent 'normal' turbo, but not sure how much more. The bearing system is apparently easily removed, so the grease can be changed. Link here if you're interested in more info - http://compturbo.com/spotlights/oil-less

@st3althr I'm serious! I have photos of me in the garage that are private and was asked by the owner to not share with anyone. I've set a couple in door karting track records and one of my good friends in motor sport was informally trained by the guy who designed Sennas F1 cars. I run a lot of information by him and ask him questions all the time. Been very fortunate to meet the people I have in the sport and have worked in the industry in the past with a lot of ups and downs. Currently working on a big project I can't discuss. I don't have time to troll and don't see the point in agitating people unnecessarily.

It's kind of like asking a kid who gets bullied why pay any attention to the bullies. People work their asses off in life to build things like this and people come on and take attention and credibility away from the focus of the article. Thats what bothers me. We should focus on the build and the hard work, not pointing out all the flaws and BS. You're absolutely right, I suppose it's just a sense of sticking up for people that I've had throughout my whole life. I see some guy who built a badass Audi / Lotus and drives the life out of both his creations being discredited.

The guys on Speed Hunters work their asses off to take pictures and write up an article about something they are passionate about and then some jackass comes on and discredits everything because "it's not a 'real' Lotus."

I know because I took the time to travel to a friends house to cover his cars and worked my ass off to do it myself. I suppose since I covered a car I understand how much work goes into it now and I get really mad when I see someone who has no clue what it's like to dedicate your life and work only to have some idiot take away from what you're trying to do. You're right though and I'm going to cover another event for Speed Hunters that I wasn't even going to cover just to prove a point now. Lets stay strong as a community and not let these guys bring us down.

Speed Hunters gave me a chance to cover a friends cars and I feel a strong loyalty to them and their work now. You're right though. Lets enjoy cars and to hell with anyone who doesn't understand why these machines are built. Full speed ahead, maximum attack!!!

@roninlotus211 While this obviously won't change your view of the car, I thought I should point out that it did win the Norwegian time attack series for two years running. So it's not just dominating at one track...

Then stop commenting on it? You sound like a concours judge in a tweed suit. A record at one track is still a record. A friend of mine had the outright lap record around Riverside until they shut it down. I'd love to hear you discredit all his hard work because he only owns a track record at "one track." My guess is if you came face to face with him, you wouldn't say a word and if you did you would be put in your place so fast it would make your head spin.

If everyone followed your philosophy on building a car the only people building cars would be guys who were rich enough to make everything as nice as possible and there would be no such thing as an engine swap. How fun does that sound? A real petrol head doesn't care whats in his car so long as it hauls ass around the track.

Can any real speed hunter imagine a world where LS engines are only put in Corvettes? I get scared just thinking about that world...it's the automotive equivalent of Gotham City.

The race track isn't a concours competition, no one cares what powers your car if you're the guy everyone else aspires to beat.

For what it's worth, people will always voice their opinions and there isn't such thing as a "wrong opinion". While Ronin may seem like a "troll" he's simply stating his opinion, that he doesn't like the style of build and he's completely entitled to that opinion. Furthermore he's not interested in cars with shoddy fit and finish and doesn't appreciate a car being called an "Audi" when it's a tube chassis with some homemade bodywork and an Audi emblem. While that might not bother some people, he's entitled to not like it. If he was bashing the owner that would be something completely different, but voicing his dislike for a car is no different than voicing your like for it. We don't all have to agree, as "real Speedhunters" I think it would be even more boring if we all liked the same things. This all coming from someone who is completely neutral in regards to these cars, I've seen them run in person and they are shit-fast for sure, but I'd be lying if I said that the body work is nice up close. I can see both sides of the coin and I think people could learn a lot by stepping out of their own mindset once in a while. It seems like over the last few years most of the "haters" have actually tuned into habitual "likers" and get so used to going with the flow they don't stop to evaluate comments they view as negative.

As I said dude you are a troll that runs around on car forums under different names talking about mysterious ambitious projects but never say what they are and about friends of friends that know someone that may have done something or not... Dude you are a joke..

As for free marketing you will always have to troll others that do something.. Much like a sucker fish.

@roninlotus211 I submitted an article on my friend Steve O'hara's Formula Atlantic car to Speed Hunters recently. We'll be at Cal Speed on the 10th of next month running out 125cc TaG karts that make ~25hp and pull about 2G through the corners.

On the 25th I'll be driving a 2 liter Formula car and will be submitting a guest feature on that as well and a few days ago I set the top time at a local indoor karting track that hasn't been beaten in 10 days.

My current project is extremely ambitious and might not be completed for a couple years, but hopefully will be something people remember for a long time to come. Working with some very special people who own some very, very special cars.

The more you talk the more hype you're building up for me and the bigger an idiot you're going to look when my projects completely. Keep talking...I'm enjoying the free marketing :)

I feel you man, I guess my point was not to let other people pissing in your cheerios stopping you from enjoying them. If you can see through the BS in the comments section then it shouldn't be that hard to ignore certain people, specifically if you feel they aren't qualified in the first place.

As my father would say, "there's no point in engaging in a battle of wits with an unarmed man."

@sean klingelhoefer But all were doing by discussing this is taking away from Suzy and Paddy's work. Great article and great photos. Lets focus on that. I love this car and the photos / write up. Really good job and I look forward to seeing more coverage of Gatebil. Brilliant photos and a really good write up. Love this car and would absolutely kill for a ride around any track. Hope to see more coverage of gatebil :)

@sean klingelhoefer Thats a perfectly agreeable POV Sean. I share in your sentiments, but it's the nature of someones tone compared to their credibility IMO. If my good friend who is a multi time national champion in his field voices his opinion in a harsh mannerism, I shut up and listen to him. He's done a lot of testing and thousands of hours of dedication to the craft. He's won and can provide me the most detailed insight backed by countless hours of behind the wheel research and development and decades of racing experience.

When I see someone talking down on a person who has accomplished things and has accomplished nothing but building a custom car that gets a couple magazine articles I have a problem with that, especially when people have worked hard to bring us coverage of these machines.

He discredits the builders, the drivers, the photographers and the writers. Thats where I think the difference lies. I hate stance. I absolutely hate stance, but if you go back in all my comments you can see me trying to understand the scene and being mature about the way I approach people who are into it. This guy would get destroyed by a number of my friends who operate in the fields he claims to exist in. He's a poser who's sole purpose in life seems to be to instigate and take credit away from others hard work.

@roninlotus211@RodChong I see the points you're both making and I side more with Rod, but I do see Ronin's point. Yeah they aren't authentic Audi / Lotus race cars and those would have way more value to a collector etc. At the end of the day IMO to look at a 1000whp record holding tube frame race car and discredit the entire build because it's not a genuine Audi is missing the point just as much as guys are missing yours Ronin. Just because something isn't a real Audi chassis etc, doesn't necessarily make it any less quick on a track which is the focal point of these cars.

Anyone IMO who says a record breaking time attack car with 1000whp isn't a real Audi is totally missing the point of the build. As far as building something then talking I have built my own 2 stroke racing engines and V8s in the past and after a while or doing those things the brand loyalty so to speak wears off. At the end of the day engines are engines. Chassis are chassis. Just because one was made in a factory and another was made in a guys garage doesn't really make a difference if it was made correctly.

While Ronin likes to say "build something and then talk sh*t" the guys who built these cars would say "build them and then race them and set records and then talk sh*t."

Building is only one part of the equation. The driver is another and the setup is another all in itself. Without every piece of the puzzle you end up with one sidedness. In my eyes the builders of these cars have accomplished all three so to discredit them because they are not genuine in one sense is totally missing the bigger picture.

@RodChong That would be a very good topic but I think the crowd here save a few just don't get the point.. Factory supported "race cars" will always hold a greater value than the home brew to a collector. I'm no collector but an enthusiast and have been all my 63 yrs. I'm just tryin to point out facts....

It's great that guys can take a pile of tubes and build a track burner and I'm all for modifying anything but call it what it is, that's all.

and for the hater trolls out there build something and then talk your shit.

@roninlotus211 I don't think anyone is under the illusion the two KRB race cars are not silhouettes. They are very much in the tradition of what you would find with the late Group 5 or IMSA GTX cars from the early '80s which were little more than rooflines draped over bespoke racing chassis. Does that devalue them? In your eyes yes (which is totally cool) and in my eyes no.

With the Lotus for example, we have stated that it is very much also a Tiga Group C2 chassis and have also noted this in the spec sheet.

It's boils down to semantics though. Is a Super GT Nissan GT-R really as Nissan GT-R when all is has from a production car is a bit of roof? Is a NASCAR Toyota Camry really a Toyota Camry of any form? What about a Ford Mustang Funny Car?

Perhaps this should be the topic of the next discussion on the site! :)

@RodChong The point no one seems to get is that these cars are not a Lotus Esprit or Audi Sport Quattro. Why is that so hard to understand? They are poor replicas at best, they don't have the same windshield rake or bodywork, chassis, suspensions or drivetrain.... Or do they have a Lotus Esprit Chassis ID or Audi Sport Quattro ID...They are wannabes , fakes, replicas, something they are not. That's the point I'm making..

Sure they are fast race cars but they are not "Lotus" or "Audi" race cars...much the same as if I put a cheapo fiberglass F40 body on my car and called it a Ferrari...

@roninlotus211 not getting your point. That's like saying that DTM or Super GT cars are lesser machines than WTCC or GT3 racers simply because they are silhouettes?
At the end of the day race cars are race cars, regardless of if the chassis is a tube frame, carbon monocoque or modified unibody. There are many solutions to the technical problem of going fast, so I just don't see how you can argue that a car is 'wannabe' (your word) just because its a silhouette.
That's like saying a Zakspeed Capri or Kremer K4 is irrelevant just because the builders have replaced the floor with a tube structure. #idontthinkso

Where does this crap come from ? You say I don't build my own car and yet there are detail photos on Lotussport.org to prove your statements are pure BS...

I don't race but what does that matter since I am talking about the car not the driver, writer or photographer.

There are no personal attacks coming from me but you fanboys feel the need to go there.

Acc, I'm not here to talk about my "RS211" Lotus but to correct you it is a "Lotus chassis" from the very beginning. It runs the same factory OEM supercharger [I added a turbo], it runs on 91 octane gasoline [alcohol kicks in over 20 psi], replaced the original Toyota gearbox with another Toyota gearbox strong enough to handle the power and the bodywork is in no way "rat" like in fit or finish.

My car is a modified "Lotus Elise"... Besides chassis these cars don't even have the same profile of the cars they claim to be...

Sorry to be the bubble popper but replicas are wannabes no matter how fast they are.

@roninlotus211 your compound charged 211 is wider than the standard Lotus, uses a gearbox that's not Lotus, runs chargers that are not Lotus, runs fuel that was not used on the original car, sports bodywork that you did the "rat" way yourself, won't comply any safety regs for any series at all (flip it and you're dead), and you fling it around public roads at probably three times the speed limit on a bad day...

Cars are nothing without their drivers, horses are nothing without their riders, a bow is nothing without its arrow and an archer. You're missing the point. At the end of everything man made is man. Without us, none of these things matter.

These cars were built for raw emotion...to allow humans to feel what a sports car brings them. They extract the raw emotion from a vehicle and amplify it. You live life in a rigid sense, hardly grasping or understanding the very things that make you human.

You've owned Audi Sport Quattros and Lotus Espirits, big deal. I've been in Carrera GT's driven at 10/10s, I've known men who have owned and driven V12 F1 cars, Porsche 917s, 962s and a CLK - GTRs. If you want to talk ownership credentials I have sat down and spoke to men who have owned cars that are some of the rarest in the world. To listen to these people discuss the emotion they felt behind the wheel of these cars was an incredible experience. None of them were concerned with how "Porsche" their porsches were. I've sat in Jean Alesi's F1 Ferrari in a private garage worth 40 million while talking to the owner about driving his car around Willow Springs.

You're really out of touch with what draws people to cars and I really wonder if you're even into this hobby for the love of just the typical guy with money who owns an expensive car to own an expensive car. You strike me as jaded, out of touch and completely emotionless. It's sad.

I know I did say my car but you seem to have trouble reading eh ? These two cars are not Lotus or Audi but tubed framed racers with sloppy replica bodywork screwed on. Seriously ya gotta have the mental capacity to see that if you can read, ya can read right ?

I've owned Audi Sport Quattro and Lotus Esprit in the past and I own both Audi and Lotus now. I know the difference between a "real" Audi and a "real Lotus..You guys don't it seems.

Funny your name isn't anywhere on that list. You weren't even driving your car, Craig Stanton was so YOU haven't done a thing. The guy being featured in this article has piloted his car to an out right track record. When an ace fighter pilot becomes an ace it's because HE shot down enemy planes.

That response shows me how little you've competed in your life and actually raced in sanctioned competition.

You have no idea how much dedication and hard work it takes rise to the top and set an out right track record anywhere because you've never done it on any level. Sure a local track could be seen as a little pond, but that doesn't mean there aren't some piranhas swimming in the water.

And I'm not surprised you don't own a suit. Suits are worn by men with class who know how to carry themselves.